10 Reasons Why & How We Should Immerse Our Students In Digital Literacy

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Digital literacy has been a hot topic on this blog in recent weeks. (Read related posts here and here.) The opinion piece, Teach U.S. Kids to Write Computer Code by Douglas Rushkoff gets to the heart of why increasing our students' digital literacy skills is vital to propelling our country forward when it comes to technology. I wish him all the best as he brings his case to Congress later this week.

Actually, Rushkoff's 10-minute meeting with Congress is my first point of concern. The fact that he must address Congress and educate its members on the value of digital literacy says quite a bit about our reticence to embrace the Digital Age, even though we live in (and have been living in) this age for quite some time. Why do we have such a sluggish mindset about technological innovation when it is so crystal clear that this the path the world is blazing?

As Rushkoff writes, "Although we live in a highly digital age, digital literacy is not a priority among us. And as a result, computer science is not a priority in our schools."  My husband, who has worked in software development for decades, laments this fact often. While he tries to hire American coders, he finds that too often their skills, their knowledge, their drive for doing the work, lags behind potential candidates from other countries. In fact, Rushkoff sarcastically (?) states, "But I'm hoping we can get motivated enough to catch up with, say, Estonia (where they teach code to kids) ...."
In his article, Rushkoff shares with readers the 10 points he plans to present to Congress. Two really stood out for me. The first is the impact that our lack of digital literacy skills will have on our cybermilitary efforts. Think about it. We don't just need soldiers to use the technology that protects us; we need to soldiers to create the technology that protects us. Second, he spotlights that computer science isn't just about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), but liberal arts as well. It requires highly-developed critical thinking skills. (Did someone say Teaching Reading In The Content Areas?)

Be sure to check out this article and chime in with your thoughts.

Thanks for reading ... it keeps your Mind Full of Literacy!